Russian stocks mixed on oil price fall, rising ruble

MOSCOW, Jul 19 (PRIME) -- The MOEX Russia Index fell on Tuesday on the back of an oil price decrease and a strengthening of the ruble, while the RTS index rose on the national currency dynamics, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 1.2% to 2,071.28, and the RTS index grew 0.54% to 1,175.04.

"Most of the shares in the (MOEX Russia) index were in the red zone due to the continuing strengthening of the ruble," Otkritie Research leading analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said that dividend cut-offs and deterioration of the external background during the day accelerated the decline of the MOEX Russia Index, while the U.S. dollar-denominated RTS index increased due to a strong ruble.

The European market mood was neutral, as the Euro Stoxx 50 remained flat, after an 8.6% inflation in the euro zone in June was confirmed. In the U.S., the S&P futures added about 0.8%. The oil prices slid by about 2% from short-term resistance zones of U.S. $107 for the Brent and $103.5 for the WTI blends, the analyst said.

Kozhukhova said that after TMK and Bank Saint-Petersburg's boards of directors announced dividends for January–June, investors may expect some other issuers to do the same, which creates a positive medium-term trend. TMK's shares increased 7.81% on the news.

Kochetkov said that Detsky Mir outperformed the market, rising 2.11% on the back of a strong operating report for January–June.

Polymetal jumped 4.11% on the news that the company was considering selling its assets in Russia and focusing on business in Kazakhstan, analysts said.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’ five most active stocks on Tuesday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Gazprom	+1.51	189.51	4.211
Sberbank	-0.27	127.76	4.099
Surgutneftegas pref	-13.38	28.69	2.128
Norilsk Nickel	-2.41	14914	1.169
Lukoil	-1.23	3600	1.103

(56.5616 rubles – U.S. $1)

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